Munster must find a fork in the road ahead

It’s an oft-used phrase but it encapsulates succinctly the bind Munster find themselves in at present: “If things don’t change, they stay the same.”

There is a common theme running through the five successive defeats that has derailed Munster’s season entering the new year, and unless it is addressed soon, then qualification for next season’s Champions Cup will be threatened for the first time since the advent of the original tournament 20 years ago.

It must be difficult to be a Munster forward at present. In the vast majority of the games they have lost recently, specifically those back-to-back encounters against Leicester and the Leinster game last Sunday, Munster have dominated both possession and territory to such a degree they could be on a five-game winning streak.